The Last October Sunday Dinner

October has flown by so fast!  Yesterday, I made the last Sunday dinner for this month and it had a bit of a Halloween theme.  We started with old fashioned shrimp cocktails. I made the cocktail sauce with extra hot horseradish to give it a kick.

 The main dish was old fashioned Yankee pot roast.  I found wonderful carrots at the Amish market and put extra in for The Blog Tech....he LOVES carrots.

It was served over roasted garlic mashed potatoes.  We went to a potato farm last weekend and bought Yukon potatoes and gave them a test run for Thanksgiving.  They were excellent with just the right amount of lumps!  Maybe it's just me but I like a few lumps in my mashed potatoes.

I made a huge cauliflower and cheese casserole.

It turned out to be like a perfect keto mac and cheese.

 I made French bread with garlic butter and a new sweet cornbread with bacon.  I've been on the hunt for a perfect cornbread recipe and have made many different recipes over the last few months.  This one might be the winner.  I'll post the recipe at the end of this post.

My daughter brought Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer.  It's cream soda.  I love the cauldron on the broomstick.

My DIL asked me a while ago if I ever make brioche.  One of the first breads I ever baked was brioche.  So, as a surprise, I baked her chocolate brioche rolls.  I served them warm and they made everyone swoon.

And my daughter made these very cute and extremely delicious vanilla ghost cupcakes.  She made extras for The Blog Tech to take to work today.  It was a perfect Fall day. It was gloomy and breezy and cool.  We built a big fire and opened all the doors and windows.  Leaves blew through the house and we ate dessert on the front porch while the W's greeted tourists on the sidewalk.  Everyone went home with lots of leftovers.

Cornbread Recips:

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place your 9-inch cast iron skillet in the oven while the oven preheats.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 2 teaspoons baking powder.
3. Slice off about 1/2 tablespoon from your 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter and set aside.
4. Add 1/4 cup oil, 1 cup of sugar, and 1/3 cup honey. Stir well until combined. 
5. Add 2 eggs and 1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk. Whisk until fully incorporated. 
6. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not over mix! Make sure the dry ingredients are fully incorporated but don't worry if there are a few lumps. 
7. Throw the 1/2 stick of butter into the pan in the oven and let it melt. Remove the cast iron skillet from the oven.Swirl the pan so the butter coats the sides.
8. Pour the batter into the hot pan and smooth out the top. 
9. Use hot pads to place the skillet back in the oven. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes. The cornbread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter on it. You can also shake the skillet a little, and if is at all wobbly, leave it in a couple more minutes. The top should be golden brown and the edges should pull away from the edges of the pan. 
10. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

* I cooked bacon and cut it in pieces and sprinkled it over the cornbread before baking.